Dermatophytes and Dermatophytoses Acquisition Among School-Age Children in Cameroun, Ivory Coast, Mali and Nigeria: A Systematic Review

Abstract

Fungal infections tend to be the most commonly diagnosed skin disease in Africa and with a high percentage of incidence among school-age children. This epidemiological survey summarized the epidemiological trends of dermatophytoses reported in West African countries. The review protocol was done in March 2019 through a literature search using Medline, Google Scholar, PubMed and African Journals Online (AJOL) databases to download all published papers reporting fungal infections among school-age children in West Africa. The period included in the reports was February 2007 to January 2019. A total number of 36,299 samples were investigated by the authors across West African countries and a total of 6262 were recorded positive with dermatophytes segregated by male and female. Tinea capitis has a prevalence of 44.4% and mainly affected children of ages 6–10 years (78.09%). This was followed by Tinea corporis and Tinea unguium with a prevalence of 19.4% and 13.9% respectively. Trichophyton species [n=67 (54.92%)], Microsporum species [n=34 (27.87%)], Aspergillus species [n=6 (4.92%)] and Epidermophyton species [n=5 (4.10%)] are most keratinophilic fungi isolated. The scalp [n=2471 (38.51%)], scalp and body [n= 2142 (33.38%)] and toe and nails [n=479 (7.46%)] were the most affected body parts recorded. Tinea capitis remains a common infection among the subjects, and various interventions are needed to reduce the spread of dermatophytic infections in this category.